Of Cars, College, and Craziness
by shadows and silhouettes
Summary: Welcome to the college apocalypse. Sequel to Of Food, Friendship, and Fluff.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Kat and Laci here. Sorry to keep you waiting so long, but with school back in session and all that fun craziness, we've been super busy. However, at long last, we're back! This is the sequel to Of Food, Friendship, and Fluff, so if you haven't read that, this story is not going to make a hell of a lot of sense. Well, it might a little, but probably not, so go read the other one first.**

**So, warnings. There is boy sex. Don't like it, don't read it, it's as simple as that. There's a lot going on along the way that isn't fun, happy times, but we'll warn you if things get graphic or if there are trigger warnings or anything. **

**With OFFF, we updated twice a week, but we're a lot busier this year, so there will only be Friday updates. **

**Other than that, we should be good to go. Enjoy!**

**WARNINGS: silly string, tampons, and sketchy alleys **

* * *

Summer was hitting the home stretch, and the days of goofing off were drawing to a close. School supplies were bought, flights were booked, and suitcases and boxes started appearing in bedrooms.

It was almost time for college.

Axel and Roxas had to go back to school first. Although they were not going to be very far away, they would be busy, so they probably weren't going to be around much to see the others off. The group decided to have a party before the two started school so that they could enjoy their last day of summer vacation together.

It was doomed to be insane the moment Demyx produced a bag full of cans of silly string.

"You're kidding, right?" Riku asked as he stared at the bag. "You do realize this is a terrible idea."

"Shh, none of your negativity," Demyx said, narrowing his eyes.

"I, for one, think it is a brilliant idea," Roxas said, reaching into the bag and pulling out a can. He wiggled his eyebrows and shook the can.

"That in and of itself is proof that it is a terrible one," Riku said, but he reached in and grabbed a can as well.

"Whoever is covered in the most string when we run out should have to do something entertaining," Sora suggested.

"People have different definitions of entertaining," Zexion pointed out.

"We'll work on it once there's a clear loser."

"The winner should get to pick," Roxas said.

"Winner is the person with the least string on them?" Axel asked.

"Of course."

"And sitting out is automatic disqualification," Sora said. "Because I know some people would try that."

"Being disqualified means you lose," Roxas clarified, staring directly at Zexion.

"Was not planning on sitting out," Zexion said, shaking his head. "We are about to be college students. I think that that, if anything, is an excuse to act a bit immature for just a little."

"You need an excuse for that?" Demyx asked, frowning slightly. "Aside from it being fun, anyway."

Seeing Zexion's developing discomfort, Xion decided to come to his rescue. She reached over and grabbed Riku's can of silly string from him, quickly taking the cap off and spraying some at Demyx. She giggled as his blonde mullet was quickly decorated with strands of green goo.

Demyx blinked a few times, eyes focused upward as he tried to see the string. "No one said go," he said sadly.

"Go," Xion proclaimed.

"Good enough for me," Roxas said. He quickly uncapped his silly string and aimed for Riku, who was unarmed thanks to Xion. Riku quickly reached for a new can so that he could retaliate.

Soon, silly string was flying in all directions. Since most of the people present had oddly spiky hair, their heads soon looked quite colorful with the strands dangling from random spikes and smooshing them down.

Finally, they were all out of silly string.

Out of breath from laughing, Demyx looked around and asked, "Verdict?"

They looked around. Finally, Xion spoke. "Well, Roxas is the clear winner."

"Only because he spent all of his time hiding behind Axel," Riku pointed out.

Roxas grinned widely. "It was a legitimate strategy."

"Coward," Sora said, rolling his eyes. "Can't even face some silly string..."

"Who lost?" Roxas asked, grinning widely. He was going to get to determine the fate of the loser.

The rest of the group looked around at each other before five fingers all pointed to Demyx.

"Hmmm," Roxas said. "What should I make Demyx do...?"

"...I don't think I like this game anymore," Demyx muttered. "Roxas looks evil."

"Roxas is evil," Riku said, trying to hide a smile. "I would have thought you had realized that by now, Demyx."

"I'm not usually the target, though."

"This is surprisingly tricky," Roxas admitted. "There isn't a ton I can think of that would actually embarrass you."

"So don't?" Demyx suggested just a tiny bit hopeful.

"And let you off the hook? That's no fun."

"But..."

"But nothing," Roxas insisted.

"Then think of something."

Finally, an idea hit Roxas. He grinned enormously. "Okay, I've got it."

"That's really scary, Roxas..." Demyx said.

"I have a tutu in my closet," Roxas started. "You have to put that on and walk over to my mom's office. You then have to ask her for a tampon."

"On as in over my pants, or..."

"Nope," Roxas said, his grin widening. "Just the tutu. No pants."

"Oh. Okay." Demyx didn't look bothered.

Roxas pouted. "You don't even look fazed. That's no fun."

"I have three slightly older female cousins. I experienced plenty of tutus when I was younger."

"Well, fine, then," Roxas said. "Have at it. You may not be embarrassed, but I'm still not letting you get out of it."

"Lead the way to the tutu, Roxy."

Roxas and Demyx walked to Roxas' room, and Roxas walked to the very back of his incredibly large closet. There was a box full of dress-up clothes, with a bright pink tutu on top.

"It might be a bit small," Roxas said, walking out of the closet with the tutu and holding it out to Demyx. "The waistband is elastic, though, so you can probably manage to squeeze it on."

"That thing is awful. What if I can't fit?"

"Well, it was made for a little girl," Roxas conceded. "A girl lived next door for a while, and her mom was friends with my mom, so she would sometimes come over to play. My mom bought her a ton of dress-up stuff, and we never got rid of it. If it doesn't fit, you don't have to wear the tutu. Like I said, though, the waistband is elastic, and you're fairly thin."

Demyx sighed. "Okay. Shoo."

"Yessir," Roxas said, grinning. "Come back to the living room when you're dressed. We all get to see it before you go talk to my mom."

"You are the worst kind of person."

"Damn straight."

"Go now. I'll... be out in a few minutes."

Roxas waved and headed back into the living room.

Once Roxas was gone, Demyx looked at the tutu with disdain, and he took his sweet time trying to wiggle into it. Finally, and quite unhappily, he managed to get it on, but just barely. Grumbling to himself, Demyx headed to the living room.

"Awe, DemDem, you look adorable," Xion said cheerily when he finally entered the room.

He only pouted at her.

"You do!" Xion insisted.

"Sure..."

There was a flash, and Roxas tucked his phone back into his pocket. "Now for the second part."

"Can we negotiate this? I've never even talked to your mom before."

"She's not that scary," Riku said. "You'll be fine."

Demyx gave him a look that said he was not helping.

"She isn't," Roxas confirmed.

"I don't want to make a bad first impression."

"She loves me, and I don't think you could possibly make a worse first impression than I did," Riku said, grinning. "I spent the night at Roxas' and forgot to lock the door when I was showering."

"Oh."

"She didn't open my bathroom door without knocking for a month and a half after that," Roxas said, grinning at the memory. "Plus, she's used to me having people around, and she knows I enjoy getting up to interesting things. You'll be fine."

Demyx sighed. "Fiiiine."

"You have to tell us what she says," Zexion cut in.

"Okay."

"Now run along," Roxas said, poking Demyx. "Go have fun."

Slowly, Demyx trudged his way to Roxas's mom's office.

When he arrived at the door, Roxas' mother looked up. "One of Roxas' friends?" she asked as she looked him over once. "I'm not going to question why he put you in a tutu."

"I lost the silly string war," Demyx explained.

"I'm going to hope my carpet is not stained and just not question it." She smiled at him. "What's your name?"

"Demyx."

"Well, Demyx, I'm Mrs. Strife, but I'm sure you already knew that. You can call me Tifa." She gave him a warm smile.

"Mmkay." Demyx tried to return the smile as he fidgeted in place.

"Is there anything else you have to do?"

"Yeah..."

"What?"

Demyx fidgeted more. "I'm s'posed to ask you for a tampon..."

"Wow, this must have been a serious silly string fight," she said amusedly. "Do you have to actually bring one back?"

"I don't think so... Roxas didn't say I had to."

"Well, here," she said as she reached into the bottom drawer of her desk. She pulled out a tampon and a black sharpie and scribbled something on the wrapper. "Give this to Roxas for me."

"Yes ma'am," Demyx said as he took it from her.

"Nice meeting you, Demyx."

"You too."

With that, she went back to her work, and Demyx headed back to the living room.

"Well?" Roxas asked.

Demyx threw the tampon at him. "She told me to give that to you."

Roxas looked at the wrapper and grinned. When he was done reading, he attempted to chuck it at Axel's head, only missing slightly.

"It's for you," Roxas said.

"Me?" Axel looked confused as he picked up the poorly aimed object.

"Yup. The contract she's working on must be going well, because my mom apparently has a sense of humor tonight."

Axel read what was on the wrapper and laughed. "This isn't mine, it's Sora's."

"God no," Roxas said, making a face. "Don't even imply that."

"What does it say?" Xion asked.

"It told Roxas to give it to his girlfriend."

Xion furrowed her brows. "But you're a boy..."

"Hence why it's Sora's."

"Hey!" Sora protested before whining at Riku. "Make them be nice."

"Awe, but you'd be such a cute girl," Riku teased, ruffling Sora's hair.

"No."

"Fine, fine."

The small brunette grinned at him, leaning to kiss Riku's cheek. Riku smiled and pulled him close.

"And was she as scary as you thought?" Roxas asked.

Demyx shook his head. "She's really nice."

"Told you," Riku said. "Of Roxas' parents, she's the sweet one, generally. She's very demanding, and you don't want to screw with her, but she's usually fairly nice."

"We should probably clean up now..." Sora said, looking around the room.

"It could be worse," Roxas said, but he excused himself from the room to get a trash bag for them.

As soon as he was back, everyone pitched in to clean up the silly string. When they were finally done, Roxas took the trash out and settled in on the couch. "I wish this didn't have to end."

"We'll just have to do something like this every break," Axel said.

"Definitely," Riku agreed.

"Until then, though, we should enjoy the rest of today."

Xion skipped over and poked Roxas, "That means you're not allowed to be depressing, got it?"

"I wasn't being depressing!"

"What are we gonna go now that we're out of silly string?" Sora asked.

"Beats me," Roxas said. "We agreed from the beginning that I was doing no planning."

"If you had a pool..." Demyx muttered.

"Nope, sorry."

"We could play charades or something!" Sora said. "That's always entertaining."

"Roxas and Sora aren't allowed to be on the same team," Riku said immediately.

"We don't have to do teams. There's an odd number of people, anyway."

"That works, then."

Sora grinned. "Yay!"

"How are we doing this?" Zexion asked.

"By height," Axel said immediately.

"Hey!" Roxas protested. "That's not fair."

"You'd just say age, and that's not fair," Sora said. "So hush."

"Age is legitimate," Roxas insisted.

"So is height," Axel protested.

"We could go alphabetically?" Xion proposed.

"I like that one," Demyx said.

"Everyone else cool with it?"

There were random nods with some pouting.

"Then let's play!" Xion said, beaming.

The group set out to play charades, which turned out to be a rather interesting event. Roxas chose crude words almost every time (though they were remarkably easy to guess). Xion's words were almost impossible to guess, because she did a lot of flailing around instead of actually acting out her words.

At some point, Sora's pants fell down. Roxas caught photographic evidence of that, but Riku threatened to murder him if he ever did anything with it.

"I do not know why any of you are surprised," Zexion said wryly. "It seems these days that we can't get together without someone losing their clothing."

"At least his underwear stayed up..."

"Thank god," Roxas agreed.

"You guys aren't special enough for that," Sora said.

"Save that for me," Riku agreed.

"Yep."

"So who won?" Roxas asked.

"We were keeping a score?" Dem asked.

"I don't know. That is why I was asking."

"I guess that means we weren't," Axel reasoned. "Or Demyx is just worried about losing again..."

"I am not!" Demyx protested. "I just didn't know."

"Sora won," Zexion said.

"I did?" The brunette looked confused.

"If you assign one point for every correct answer given and one for every acted out charade that went unguessed, then, yes. You won."

"Oh. Awesome."

"Yay, Sora!" Xion said happily.

"Who lost then?" Axel asked.

"Xion."

"Oh."

"Yup."

Sora hugged Xion.

"It's okay," Xion said cheerfully. "I had fun! That's the important part, right?"

"Yep!"

Xion beamed and hugged Sora tightly back.

The group enjoyed the rest of their time together, though it eventually started to get late. Xion was the first to leave, with Zexion and Demyx taking off not long after.

Finally, it was just Axel, Riku, Roxas, and Sora.

"Have fun in college," Riku said to Roxas. "I know you'll be around here, so it's not like I won't see you ever again, but I know you'll be busy, and before long I'll be off. Don't do anything stupid, and keep in touch."

"Yes, Mom," Roxas teased, but his tone was fairly affectionate. "I know Sora will want to hole you up in your room the day before you have to leave, but between now and then, you two should come visit us. It's not exactly far away, and Axe and I are sharing a dorm room, so it's not like you're running around all over the place on campus searching for us."

"I think we can squeeze a bit of time into our schedules for you," Riku said. There was a smile on his face, but something about it seemed almost sad.

"You're not allowed to be sad about us leaving," Roxas insisted, catching where Riku's brain was headed. "We aren't going far. Hell, even you aren't going far. It's, what... a five hour drive? I could probably make it in four and a half hours."

"Axel, never let Roxas drive to come see me," Riku insisted.

"I will be sure to keep him so busy he doesn't have the time to spare," Axel promised.

"Hey!" Roxas said, pushing Axel slightly. He tried to come off as offended, but the big grin on his face undermined his efforts.

Axel grinned back. "You won't mind."

"Remind me never to visit your room, after all," Riku said, wrinkling his nose. "It's going to constantly reek of sex, if you're serious about actually trying to keep Roxas busy."

"I never said a thing about sex."

"You basically promised lots of sex," Roxas argued.

Axel put his hand over Roxas' mouth. "Shhh."

Roxas stuck his tongue out and licked at the palm of Axel's hand, but Axel didn't react to it. Roxas pouted and bit gently on the skin, instead.

"Roxas."

"Mm?"

"Stop trying to make out with my palm."

Roxas just glared, and Riku rolled his eyes. "Well, I think it's time to leave you two in peace. Don't kill each other trapped in your little room, okay?"

Finally prying Axel's hand from his mouth, Roxas said, "No homicide. Got it. Axel, thanks to Riku, your life is no longer at risk."

"That is both comforting and concerning," Axel said.

Roxas held out his arms and gave Riku an enormous hug. "Watch out for yourself, okay?"

"Okay," Riku agreed, the same, sad smile on his face as before.

When they broke apart, Roxas bopped Riku on the nose. "No sad," he said. "Life moves on, and I'll see you at Christmas."

"Don't move on and forget us all when you're off at college. Don't get drunk off your ass all the time. Go to class, do your wor-"

"Thanks, Mom," Roxas repeated, rolling his eyes. "I'll be fine. Now, we're stretching this out. Let's just man up and get this over with."

"Fine," Riku agreed. "Call me when you're moved in, okay?"

"Will do."

They finally exchanged final goodbyes, and Riku took off.

"Well," Roxas said. "Thirteen sixteenths of the hardest parts are out of the way now."

Axel blinked. "...Wha?"

"Three hard parts left," Roxas said, waving his fingers in Axel's face. "Saying goodbye to this one," he said, ruffling Sora's hair, "the actual moving in part, and having to deal with my parents' goodbyes."

"I have a name!" Sora protested, keeping his face mostly neutral.

Roxas grinned. "You do. A really weird-ass one, but it's nice."

"It's not weird. It's Japanese."

"Eh, same difference," Roxas said, waving his hand dismissively. "Then again, I guess I can't really talk. With a dad named Cloud, I was screwed from the start."

Sora laughed. "Everyone kind of got a shorter end of the name stick..."

"Speaking of sticks..."

"I don't want to ask, do I?"

Roxas laughed. "You don't have to. I'm telling you, anyway. I just wanted to tell you to make sure you get Riku good and sexed up within the next few days. Otherwise, he'll be running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to deal with everything at once."

"He'll be fine."

"I know he will," Roxas said quietly. "Believe it or not, you both will be."

"Yeah."

"Should we send Axel back home to bed?" Roxas asked Sora, trying to prevent a gloomy silence from descending on the room by prematurely filling it with words. "It will be past his bedtime soon."

Sora laughed slightly. "Up to you."

Grinning, Roxas said, "Up to Axel, actually. My mom said you're free to spend the night if you want."

Axel shook his head. "My mom wants me home."

"Need a ride?"

"Nah."

"Okay," Roxas said, standing on his tippy toes and planting a kiss on Axel's cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Axel said. "See ya."

Roxas walked him out, and after a quick kiss on the doorstep, Roxas came back inside. "You have to visit me too, Sor," he said.

"Or you could just come home occasionally, since you're the one with a car," Sora replied.

"I will come visit," Roxas agreed. "You know my mom would totally buy you a car if you asked, though. The Great Car Escapade happened long enough ago that she might have forgotten."

"License, Roxas. I don't love you enough to drive illegally."

Roxas pouted slightly. "I'm so offended," he teased. "You don't love me enough to break the law and risk your life? What kind of friend are you?"

"The kind that likes being alive," Sora said matter-of-factly.

"Damn straight."

"I also don't trust public transportation enough for you, so there."

"Hey!" Roxas said. "Metrolink is legit. It's much better than some of the crappy transportation systems in other places I lived."

"I look younger than I am. I will get creeped on."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "You're ridiculous."

"When I end up raped and murdered in an alley from trying to visit you, you'll change your mind."

"The city is NOT that bad."

"It is for blue-eyed, brunette boys who look five years younger than their age!" Sora protested.

"Only if they go wandering around in sketchy alleys after dark," Roxas argued. "Blue-eyed, blonde boys who look five years younger than their age can testify to this."

"That's concerning..."

Roxas just shrugged.

"I'm sleeping with a frying pan under my pillow tonight so that I can beat you if you wake me up tomorrow morning."

"You're probably going to be woken up," Roxas said apologetically. "Not by me, but because my parents are going to be going crazy tomorrow morning. Does this mean that tonight is the last hurrah for us, too, though, since you don't actually want to be awake tomorrow?"

Sora looked at his feet. "I don't want to be awake because I don't want to cry. I'll do enough of that in a couple days."

A small crease appeared between Roxas' eyebrows. "It gets easier, Sor. I mean, I don't really want you to forget about how fucking awesome I am or anything, but it will get easier to push it back into the corner of your mind so it doesn't hurt as much. I know it's going to be hard missing Riku, and I can't really change that, but I'll try to pop in as often as I can."

"Okay."

Roxas held his arms out. It took a moment, but Sora hugged him.

"I love you, Sora. You've gotta promise me something, though."

"What?"

"If things get too bad, promise you will tell me and not let things build up so fucking badly, like they did this time," Roxas said seriously.

Sora nodded.

"No fingers crossed or anything? You promise?"

"I promise," Sora said. "I don't think it'll come to that, but I promise."

"Good," Roxas said. "If you don't follow through, fully expect me to come over here and kick your ass."

"Mmkay."

Seeming satisfied, Roxas yawned and stretched. "I wouldn't normally go to bed this early, but I've been threatened to be cockblocked for the next month and a half if I don't get a decent night's sleep. I should probably head off."

Sora laughed. "So the way to get you to behave is take away your sex... Too bad I can't pull that one, that'd be useful."

"Axel can't even use it effectively half the time," Roxas said, grinning wickedly. "I have designated Anti-Axel Cockblocking outfits that always work when he's trying to be determined."

"Axel is weak."

Roxas laughed. "Can't blame him. I mean, look at what he's dating."

"I'm not impressed."

"Psh," Roxas said, rolling his eyes. "I'd say that it's because you're blind, but I'm honestly really glad things are the way they are, or it'd be hella awkward."

"I'd apologize, but it'd be a lie. Now off to bed with you."

"God, is it National Everyone Try to Mother Roxas Day?" Roxas whined, but he ruffled Sora's hair again. "Night, kid."

"We're working on legalizing it." Sora grinned at him. "Night, Rox."

Roxas walked towards the hallway. Right before he left the room, though, he turned around and grinned. "See you bright and early in the morning!"

"Frying pan."

"My mom would kill you and you know it."

"She would not. She adores me."

"Frying pans are her weapons, and she likes them to stay in the kitchen," Roxas said, shaking his head. "Her love of you will not save you."

"I asked for permission to hoard it in my room until you left."

Roxas shook his head. "I call bullshit on that."

"Ask her," Sora said.

"Damn," Roxas said after a second of looking at Sora's facial expression and determining he was actually telling the truth. "Fine, Mr. Fun Ruiner."

The brunette grinned at him. "Bedtime, mister."

"Fiiine," Roxas whined. "See you, Sora."

"See ya."

Roxas headed off to bed, leaving Sora alone in the living room.

**[TBC]**


	2. Chapter 2

**In case you were wondering, the two people in Laci's profile picture are the two of us. The only photos that exist of the two of us together in one place were taken at four in the morning. Keep that in mind.**

**WARNINGS: parents, pirates, and presents**

* * *

By the time Roxas' alarm was set to go off, he had already been awake for a while. Although he had gone to bed early the night before, his body rejected the idea of actually taking advantage of the opportunity to get more sleep, instead choosing to wake him up every few hours. Around four thirty in the morning, he gave up, putting clothes on and heading into the kitchen to grab coffee.

His dad was already awake, sitting at the table with a pile of documents next to him.

"Morning, Dad," Roxas said sleepily.

Cloud looked up from his work. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Never can," Roxas said, turning the coffeemaker on.

"You got that from me," Cloud said. "Your mother has been passed out since almost ten. I do not know how she does it."

"Magic."

Cloud grunted his agreement. For a few minutes, the only noise was the bubbling of the coffeemaker.

"Are you nervous?" Cloud asked.

"Nah," Roxas said. "It's just another new school, right? At least this time I'll be heading in with someone I know."

"You are a Strife. We have raised you to be prepared for anything." At first, Roxas suspected that Cloud almost sounded proud as he said the words, but Roxas attributed it to the fact that it was four thirty in the morning when his father next opened his mouth.

"We fully expect you to live up to these expectations, Roxas. You are representing not only yourself, but your entire family. There is no wiggle room or room for failure. Do you understand?"

"No fucking up, be a bratty teacher's pet," Roxas said, waving his hand through the air dismissively. "You and Mom are going to repeat this lecture anyway in the car. It's 4:00 AM. You can save it."

Cloud's face soured. "Roxas, it is not proper to be so flippant about your responsibilities."

"Yessir," Roxas said. He poured half of the coffee into a mug. "If that's all, I'm going back to my room."

"Get to know your professors. They will be invaluable allies," Cloud continued. "Make friends with your fellow students, as they will be future leaders alongside you. Foster relationships now. They will aid you in your business endeavors later in life."

Roxas yawned as loudly as he could, completely cutting his father off. Cloud sent Roxas a withering glare, but it did not even seem to faze Roxas. "Like I said," the boy said, "save it for later. I'm leaving now."

Before his father could respond, Roxas left the room.

* * *

Around seven in the morning, Cloud, Tifa, and Roxas finished loading up the car. Roxas had a lot less junk than they expected, but Tifa kept trying to pack and repack the car until everything was perfectly arranged in what she decided was the most efficient possible way.

They agreed to meet Axel on campus at 7:45. Roxas was already dreading the long car ride alone with his parents.

When they were all loaded up, they piled into the car. Roxas checked his phone before they headed out, and he grimaced when he saw a text from Axel saying he would be a little bit late.

More time alone with the parents.

Great.

* * *

"Axel, wake up."

Axel's mother stood at the door of his bedroom. His alarm had been going off for the past ten minutes, and it did not seem to register.

The redhead in question did not even move.

"Axel!" his mother shouted, walking up to the bed.

The only reaction she got was Axel hiding his face in his pillow and whining.

"You're going to college today," she reminded him. "No sleeping in, or you'll be late."

"Screw college," was the very muffled reply.

"The only reason I'm not whacking you upside the head for that is that you're half asleep," Axel's mother chastised, though they both knew she was bluffing.

"S'too early..."

"Get up."

"_Why?_ It's not going to sprout legs and leave if we don't get there at dawn."

"We don't want to keep Roxas and his parents waiting, kiddo."

"Screw Roxas, too."

"Axel," his mother chastised. "Get your ass outta bed."

"But the monkeys want me to stay..."

Axel's mother just stared at him.

Taking the silence as a positive thing, Axel rolled over to fall completely back asleep.

So, Axel's mom walked over to the window, opened the blinds and curtains, and turned the light on.

The alarm was still beeping persistently.

"Ugh," Axel groaned, finally giving up and rolling to glare at his mom. "You're mean."

"You'll thank me later," she said. "We're already running late."

"Good."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why is that good?"

"Teach people to expect me up this early..."

"Okay," she said, her patience finally running out. "Up," she ordered. "None of this. We're leaving in a half an hour. Get ready."

"Food?"

"If you miss it because you can't get your butt out of bed..." She shrugged.

"Mooooooom," Axel whined, sounding like a small child, instead of the young adult he was.

She merely shrugged again. "That's the deal. I'm not budging."

"Horrid woman."

"Don't go calling your mother a horrid woman," she said, but she was smiling slightly, now that Axel was finally starting to wake up a little.

"But you taught me not to lie."

"I'm leaving," she said, gravitating towards the door. "I'm not going to put up with all this abuse. Get up and going."

Axel grumbled at her, but worked himself into a sitting position. He glanced at the time and noted that he should already be meeting with Roxas. Sighing, he shot a text to the blonde and then got up to get dressed. Breakfast was Axel's greatest motivator.

He was lucky his mother had cooked it in advance, or he would not have had time to eat it in the short period of time he was allotted.

Axel's mom finished loading the big stuff into the car while Axel did a little bit of last-minute packing.

Finally, it was time to go.

"Now," Axel's mom started. "You're close. I expect you to visit me sometimes. It doesn't have to be every single weekend. I know you'll have a life. Just... pop in every once in a while, okay?"

Axel nodded. "At least once or twice a month."

She looked at him for a second before holding out her arms and pulling him close. "I'm so proud of you, Axel. Remember that."

"I know."

"I know you'll do well in college. You're a smart kid."

Axel nodded again.

She smiled, trying to keep the sadness from her face. She was going to be lonely, but Axel was close. It wasn't like he was heading all the way across the country or anything. "Okay," she said finally, releasing her son. "Let's go before we make this too overdramatic."

"Yeah, we have all day for that," Axel said.

Axel's mom laughed. "Ready to head out, kiddo?"

"Sure."

"Let's go, then."

The two settled into the car and were off.

* * *

It was nearly 9:00 by the time Axel finally showed up. He and Roxas had agreed to meet in the parking lot so they could walk over to the dorm together. Axel and Roxas were going to head over first to get their keys and open their room. The parents' cars were only allowed to park in front of the dorm for a half an hour at a time, so they did not want to waste their time.

It didn't take all that long to get everything from the cars to the room. The hardest and slowest part was unpacking everything and organizing.

"I'm just glad we don't have to bunk," Roxas said as he dumped clothes haphazardly into his dresser drawer. His mother gave him a look, and he rolled his eyes and started to fold them up.

"It wouldn't have been that bad," Axel said from his spot on the floor, where he was sitting in front of a box and digging through it.

Roxas raised an eyebrow, "Are you kidding? Bunk beds are fucking obnoxious. Or, at least, they are if you're top bunk."

"Which I would have insisted I take, since I could climb up the ladder in like two steps."

"And you'd hit your head every time you tried to get out of bed," Roxas pointed out. "The ceilings here aren't very high."

"Not if I were careful."

"Roxas only has a vendetta against bunk beds because he broke his arm rolling off the top bunk in summer camp when he was younger," Roxas' mother explained. "Just ignore him."

Axel grimaced. "Ouch."

"Don't just ignore me!" Roxas pouted. "Bunk beds are the fucking devil."

"Well, then it's good that we aren't having to bunk."

"We don't get our own closets, but I can deal with that."

"Closets are overrated."

Roxas shrugged and finished folding his clothes. Just as the blonde shut the drawer, a balled up shirt hit him in the back of the head.

"How did that end up in my stuff?" Axel asked.

"Whoops?" Roxas said as he pulled his drawer open again to put the shirt away. He deliberately ignored the unhappy look his parents were giving him.

They all knew how the shirt got in with Axel's stuff.

The rest of the unpacking passed without further incident.

"Roxas," Cloud said when they were finally finished. "There are presentations the rest of the day. Come with us."

"Nah," Roxas said, plopping down on his newly made bed. "I think I'll pass."

"Roxas," Tifa said, her tone sharp. "Don't disobey your father."

Roxas shot Axel and his mother a quick, apologetic look before telling his mother, "I want to settle in for a while."

"Roxas."

Tifa and Cloud stared Roxas down for an uncomfortably long period of time.

"I think," Axel said, breaking the silence, "that Roxas has the right idea. Because getting used to a new place is just as important as getting out there, and there will be plenty of things the rest of the week and once school starts for him to do. Plus, it's about lunchtime, and hunger waits for no one."

"It isn't a new place," Cloud said firmly.

"Isn't it, though?"

"He's lived here four years."

"Not in this room, or in this area."

"Food sounds great," Roxas interrupted. "Let's go eat."

"Yes," Axel agreed. "Let's."

"You go have fun at your panels," Roxas said, getting up and grabbing his keys.

The two teenage boys left with Axel's mom.

When they returned from lunch, the room was empty, and Roxas grimaced.

He knew this would come back to bite him later.

* * *

While Roxas and Axel were off unpacking their lives into a small room, Demyx and Zexion were ignoring that to spending the day together for their one year anniversary. It didn't help that Zexion was off to Connecticut the next morning.

They were both trying to ignore the fact.

Each of them decided on one place where they were going that day, not including meals. Then, they planned to return back to the house fairly early on for dinner and presents. Because Zexion had to catch an early flight out the next morning, his father was insistent on Demyx not keeping him out late.

"You get to pick first," Zexion said.

"Let's go to the park!" Demyx said. "Like we did on Valentine's Day."

"Okay," Zexion agreed, smiling. "Let's head out."

The two of them left for the park. As soon as they were there and out of the car, Demyx took Zexion's hand. Zexion grinned and clasped Dem's hand, and the two walked around the park.

"Love you, Zexy."

"I love you, too."

Demyx grinned and dragged Zexion over to the little bridge that crossed the lake in the middle of the park. "It's pretty out."

"It's not a million degrees and humid," Zexion agreed. "The weather was unusually nice to us today."

"Good karma pay off."

"Let's hope it sticks around."

Demyx nodded.

"While we're here," Zexion said, "there's something I want to show you."

"What is it?"

Zexion led Demyx down a path into a wooded area. He walked over to a tree stump and pulled out a metal box from inside of it. "Have you ever heard of geocaching?" he asked.

"No..." Demyx said slowly. "I mean, I've heard the word, but..."

"Well," Zexion explained, "it's basically like... treasure hunting, I guess." Zexion knew Demyx would understand that. Demyx liked pirates. "Boxes and containers are placed all over the world, and there is a website online where you go and register them and give the GPS coordinates or clues to find it. People go and find your geocache. With a lot of the boxes, the people who created the geocache will put fun little trinkets inside, and you're allowed to take one as long as you sign with your name and the date and leave something behind in its place."

"That's really cool..."

"I read a book about it this summer, so I've been doing some research lately," Zexion said. He pointed to the container. "This was the first one I ever found."

"Have you found more?"

Zexion nodded. "There is another one in this park and there are a few in the park twenty minutes down the road."

"Awesome!"

"I can show you the website when we get home," Zexion said, sounding excited by the prospect. "I'm sure if we looked, we could find some more in the area. I bet there will be some on our college campuses, too. They're often popular places for geocaches."

Demyx nodded enthusiastically.

Zexion thought for a minute or two. "Actually, if you can pull up the website on your phone, we can find one nearby, probably, together."

Demyx held out his phone to Zexion. "Have at it."

A few minutes later, Zexion grinned. "Got one. You ready?"

"Mhmm."

"Then let's go!"

The two set off, driving back to their old high school.

"It's here?" Demyx asked.

"Yup," Zexion said, grinning slightly. "Near the woods by the soccer fields."

"That's cool! Let's go."

The two tried to look like they belonged as they parked and got out, walking around the school to the fields. Zexion vaguely wondered if what they were doing was technically considered trespassing, but he figured he could claim ignorance or say he was coming to visit an old teacher if anyone questioned their presence.

"Hey, Zex..."

"Yeah?"

"What do you think it'll be like?"

Zexion looked at Demyx, trying to take his overly pensive face seriously. "What do you mean?"

Demyx shrugged.

"You are not referring to the geocache, are you?"

"No..."

Zexion reached out and grabbed Demyx's hand. "I think it will probably be hard, but nothing we can't handle."

"Yeah."

"We'll just have to go out of our way to make sure that we still talk," Zexion said firmly. "We can set Skype dates. It won't be quite the same, because we won't be able to actually touch each other, but..."

"That'll be the hard part," Demyx said quietly. "I've never been... worried about not getting to talk to you. That's not the problem."

Zexion walked in front of Demyx and slowed the blonde to a stop. He gave Demyx a quick kiss on the cheek. "I have confidence in you."

"I wasn't gonna tell you, but I think I'm gonna steal one of your shirts later, just 'cause."

"Make sure it is not one I wear often," Zexion said. "I want to avoid laundry for as long as possible."

"But the point is that it'll remind me of you, and possibly smell like you..."

Zexion sighed. "Fine, fine."

"We'll do a fair trade, and you can have one of mine."

"I already have all of the CDs you've given me over the last year packed away," Zexion admitted. "I think I should be good on memories there."

Demyx smiled slightly. "Okay then."

They started to walk again, walking around the baseball diamond and past the track field to the soccer field. As they walked along the white painted lines on the field, Zexion noticed idly that his shoes were damp and covered in grass clippings, but it did not really bother him. They walked back to the woods.

"Okay," Zexion said. "We should be looking for a small, metal box."

"That could be challenging..."

They searched along the line of the woods. At one point, Zexion had to stop Demyx from trampling through a patch of what he suspected was poison ivy. Eventually, though, they found the box.

"Open it, open it, open it."

Zexion slowly undid the latch and pried the box open, with Demyx peeking over his shoulder.

Inside were a myriad of random bits and pieces. There was a bright orange yoyo with a faded string, a bunch of multicolored bouncy balls, a black flash drive, and a piece of copper wire that looked like it had been stolen from the school's science labs. Zexion fished around in the box and pulled out the log book and a pencil.

"If you want, you can take something," Zexion said as he wrote down his information in the small notebook. "We just have to make sure we replace it with something of equal or greater value."

"Like my old bike chain key?" Demyx asked. "Would that work? 'Cause that's all I've got."

"If there's something you want in here that you would want to trade it for, that works fine," Zexion agreed.

Demyx just looked at him. "Zexion, you just presented me with bouncy balls. Of course I want one."

Smiling, Zexion put the notebook and pencil back in the box. "Go ahead, then."

Grinning, Demyx looked over each bouncy ball carefully before picking a bright blue and purple one that had glitter stuck inside of it. Then, he pulled his keyring from his pocket and removed the old bike key before he put it in the box. "There."

"Let's get this put away," Zexion said, reclosing the box. "When we get home, we can go on the website and log it there."

The blonde nodded, tucking his new treasure into his pants pocket.

"Ready to head off? The students are probably watching us out of their classroom window, wondering what exactly we are doing."

"Yeah. We should probably go before they call the cops or something..."

"They will not call the cops," Zexion argued, "but we should get going. Does this count as my place?"

Demyx shrugged. "Only if you want it to."

Zexion seemed to consider it seriously for a second before nodding. "I think it was."

"Alright then."

"Back home?"

"Sounds good to me," Demyx agreed.

The two walked back to the car and drove to Zexion's house.

"It's too early to eat," Demyx decided as they walked in. "So, presents now?"

"Presents now," Zexion confirmed.

The blonde fidgeted slightly in anticipation. "Your room?"

"If that's where you want to go."

"Well, it's your house..."

Zexion nodded. "My room works."

Grinning, Demyx grabbed Zexion's hand and quite literally near dragged him through the house.

"Someone is in a hurry," Zexion teased when they settled in on his bed, the door closed.

"Sorry... This is kinda exciting. It's been a whole YEAR!" Demyx said, looking appropriately embarrassed.

Zexion smiled. "It has been. It is kind of incredible."

A moment later, Zexion was tackled and kissed.

"Woah," Zexion said, laughing as he fell back onto the bed.

"Love you."

"I love you, too." Zexion leaned up and kissed Demyx gently.

Demyx smiled. "Presents now?"

"You first."

"Okay!" Demyx hopped off the bed and walked over to his backpack that he'd brought with him. He crouched in front of it, digging around through who knows what before standing again, triumphantly holding two wrapped packages. "Which one do you want first? The kind of big one or the little one?"

"Little one," Zexion said.

Nodding, Demyx walked back across the room with the gifts, instead of throwing them like he was often prone to do. He settled back on the bed and handed the package to Zexion.

Zex opened the package carefully to find a digital picture frame. He looked up at Demyx. "This is perfect," he said, grinning widely.

"I'm glad. I almost got a bigger one, but it would have taken up a lot of space."

"I should be able to fit this into my suitcase," Zexion agreed. "Thank you."

"Okay, second one!" Demyx set the second package on Zexion's lap.

Zexion opened the second package. Inside were two packs of regular pens, one black and one blue, but they all had Zexion's name on the side in silver lettering.

Pulling out the black pen, Zexion inspected it more closely. He gripped it between his two fingers and looked up at Demyx. "They're perfect, Demyx." He put the pen away and scooted over on the bed, wrapping his boyfriend in a tight hug. "Thank you so much."

Demyx hugged back. "You're welcome."

After a minute or two of hugging, Zexion extricated himself from Demyx. "Your turn. The big one or the little one?"

"Hmm, big one!"

Zexion walked over to his closet and pulled out a giant basket, which he brought over and handed to Demyx.

"Whoa..."

Zexion laughed. "Look inside."

Eagerly, Demyx opened the lid of the basket. Inside were a bunch of college essentials, from food (ramen, popcorn, and more candy and chips than Demyx would know what to do with) to first-aid goods (band-aids, Neosporin, Advil, and cough drops) to school supplies (notebooks with fish on them, pens, and stickers). Tucked into the very bottom was a t-shirt from Demyx's school.

"This is so cool!" Demyx said much louder than was necessary.

Zexion smiled. "I figured I should give you some of the essentials."

Demyx promptly tackled him. "I love it!"

"Good. Ready for the next one?"

"Mhmm!"

Zexion went back to his closet and pulled out a little box, slightly bigger than his hand. He handed it to Demyx. Demyx opened the box and blinked for a second. Then he lifted up the little notebook that was inside. "I assume I should open it?" he asked.

Zexion only nodded.

Slowly, Demyx opened the notebook and took his time flipping through it. Inside were drawings and letters, quotes and song lyrics (from songs Demyx loved and Zexion only knew because of him) from their year as a couple. When Demyx finally reached the end, he had the biggest grin on his face. "You're perfect, Zex"

"It took a bit of time," Zexion admitted, "and I can't draw very well."

"Doesn't make it any less perfect."

A shy smile lit up Zexion's face. "I am glad you like it."

"I absolutely love it," Demyx said.

Zexion hugged Demyx again.

Demyx hugged back.

"We made it a whole year."

"And we'll make it even longer."

Zexion nodded, curling into Demyx's side. "I do not doubt it."

"I love you, Zexion."

Kissing Demyx, Zexion said, "I love you, too."

The two spent the rest of the afternoon together, and when it came time for bed, Demyx insisted on staying the night. Zexion's father did not like it, but by that time, he had learned there was no convincing an upset Demyx to do much of anything.

The two fell asleep, cuddled up on Zexion's bed, ignoring the fact that it would be their last time sleeping together before Zexion went away.

**[TBC]**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hiya, guys. We're alive! Have a chapter! Zexion's mom was so fun to write. You'll see why.**

**Love,**

**Kat**

**WARNINGS: new places, new spaces, new faces**

* * *

Zexion was woken up by a sharp knock on the door fifteen minutes before his alarm was set to go off. He felt unusually warm, even for late summer, and there was a heavy weight across his chest. He was not overly concerned with it; his brain was too tired to try to work out what was going on. He just wanted to go back to sleep.

"You want to start getting up," his dad said through the door.

"I am up," Zexion said to his father. Zex cracked his eyes open to find that the morning light was only starting to filter in.

After a second of two of orienting himself, Zexion realized that the weight on his bed was a Demyx, curled in as closely to Zexion as he could get. Zex wanted to reach in and ruffle his hair, but Demyx looked peaceful and calm in a way that he rarely did when he was awake. Zexion did not want to disturb that.

That left the problem of how Zexion could extract himself from his boyfriend's limbs without waking the blonde up.

Zexion attempted to shift Demyx's arm carefully, easing his waist out from under the thin limb. When Zexion was practically falling off the bed and still had half of Demyx's arm around him, he finally gave up.

"Demyx," Zexion whispered. "Demyx, wake up."

Demyx made a small, whiny sound before blinking open his eyes just a little.

Zexion leaned in and placed a small kiss on Demyx's forehead. "I have to go. You're going to have to let go of me."

There was a moment where Demyx did the opposite of what was requested of him. He pulled Zexion closer, just for a moment, before his grip relaxed, and he let go.

"I love you," Zexion said quietly as he dragged himself up out of bed. "Take care of yourself."

"Love you too," Demyx mumbled, yawning. "D'you need help with anything?"

Zexion shook his head. "You can go back to sleep. I will be fine."

"Don't wanna."

"Are you positive?"

The blonde nodded, sitting up some.

"Okay," Zexion said, reaching over and grabbing Demyx's hand. He knew he was being unusually affectionate, but it was the last time he was going to see his boyfriend for a long time. "I am going to eat breakfast, brush my teeth, and do just a little bit of last-minute packing. I suppose you can help with that, if you really want."

"Mmkay."

Zexion nodded and left Demyx in peace to wake up. He wandered into the kitchen, where his father was seated at the kitchen table.

"There are bagels in the cabinet for you."

Zexion smiled and pulled out a bag of fresh blueberry bagels. "Thank you," he said as he grabbed one from the bag and put it back. He settled in at the table with his bagel, ignoring the look his father was giving him. Zex was used to people making odd faces when he ate his bagels plain.

"Is Mom meeting us up in Connecticut?" Zexion asked as he tore the bagel in half.

"That is the plan," Zexion's father said. "She should be in the airport to meet us."

All Zexion could do was nod and eat. When he was finished, he walked back to his room to change out of his pajamas.

By this time, Demyx was up and about. He looked tired, but he hadn't fallen back asleep like he'd wanted. There was time for sleeping later. Right now, Zexion took priority, since they wouldn't be in the same area again until at least December.

"There's food in the kitchen, if you want it," Zexion offered.

"Is there coffee with that food?" Dem asked.

"No," Zexion replied. "But you can always make some, or have my dad make you some, if you are still convinced that our coffeemaker is possessed."

"Of course it is!"

Zexion shook his head and smiled slightly. "If you insist."

"I don't see how you think it isn't. Have you HEARD that thing?"

"Yes," Zexion said, "but I have also used it for years with no difficulty."

"It tried to kill me," Demyx said seriously.

"It did not try to kill you," Zexion insisted as he pulled clothes from his drawer.

"Don't you lie to me."

"We both know it did not try to kill you," Zexion said firmly. "No lying is necessary."

Demyx snorted. "I still don't trust it."

Zexion sighed. "Go into the kitchen. When I'm dressed, I will make you some coffee."

"That's giving me permission to pester your dad."

"Do not annoy him too badly," Zexion said.

"I will do my best," Demyx promised, slipping out the door.

Zexion quickly changed clothes, brushed his teeth, and slipped a few odds and ends into his suitcase before hauling it out into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Demyx was standing a safe distance from the coffeemaker while Zexion's dad was setting it up.

"How much time do we have?" Zexion asked.

"Twenty minutes," Zexion's father said.

"And that is why I didn't go back to sleep," Demyx said to Zexion. "Because you would have either woken me up _again_ to say goodbye or left without it in a hurry."

"I probably just would have let you sleep," Zexion admitted. "Goodbyes are hard."

"And I would have been upset with you."

Zexion sighed. "Either way, you are up."

"I am," Demyx agreed. "And now I won't wake up alone in your house, which would have been both sad and kind of creepy."

"I would have had to worry about you leaving the door unlocked," Zexion's father said. "We would have gotten robbed because of you."

"I'm not that bad!"

"Yes you are," he insisted as he poured water into the coffeemaker.

Demyx pouted. "I'm getting better. I didn't lock myself out of my house all summer."

Zexion's father turned to Demyx. "You are eighteen years old. I should hope you have managed that much."

The blonde was quiet.

Breaking the silence, Zexion walked over to the cabinet and got the bagels out for Demyx. He smiled apologetically as he handed them over.

"Thanks," Demyx said.

"When do you leave, Demyx?" Zexion's father asked.

"On the 26th."

"So you do not have long at home, either."

The blonde nodded. "Right, but my parents are vacationing in LA for a few days once I'm there, so I get a little longer with them."

"That's nice. I am sure they will appreciate that."

"Yeah."

Before long, the coffee was done. Zexion grabbed a mug from the cabinet and filled it with coffee, handing it over to Demyx carefully before going to get sugar and creamer.

"You're the best, Zex," Demyx said.

"I know you won't drink coffee unless it's so sugary it doesn't taste like coffee anymore," Zexion teased.

"It does so still taste like coffee! Just good coffee."

"It tastes like sugar," Zexion argued, grinning slightly. "I would not even give this to you if it weren't ridiculously early."

"But it is ridiculously early and you love me a lot and I deserve it."

"And I will not be around to have to deal with the consequences," Zexion concluded.

"...That, too. I might drive and go bug Axel. He'd deserve it."

Zexion shook his head. "Considering the fact that Axel and Roxas just got a room to themselves, you might want to call ahead."

"No, definitely not. It'd be hilarious to interrupt them."

"You mean mortifying?"

"Nope!"

Zexion just sighed. "Tell him I said hello once they're done being unhappy with you."

"Will do."

Time passed, and before long, it was time for Zexion and his father to head out. They finished loading up the car. Zexion and Demyx stood by the family car.

"I'll call you tonight," Zexion promised. "We can Skype so you can see my dorm room."

Demyx smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

Zexion leaned in and hugged Demyx. "I love you."

"I love you too, Zex," Demyx said, hugging back.

"See you at Christmas."

"Yeah."

"Demyx, do you need a ride home?" Zexion's father asked.

Demyx shook his head.

"Okay. Then we are going to head off."

The blonde nodded. "Have a safe trip. Call me when you land?"

"Okay," Zexion promised.

"Okay," Demyx repeated. "Talk to you later, then."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Zexion waved sadly and got into the car. His dad started the engine, and the two drove away.

* * *

It was a half an hour drive to the airport terminal. Zexion thought he would be able to nap during the car ride, but he ended up staring out the window of the car, instead, watching his hometown fly by. It was weird to think that for the next few months, he would be thousands of miles away.

They pulled into the parking lot at the airport and hauled their luggage out of the back of the car. Zexion's father packed light; he was only staying up in Connecticut for one day. He was only there to help Zexion move in. Because they both got two suitcases, a carry-on, and a personal item for free on their flight, Zexion used his father's remaining luggage to cram more of his belongings onto the plane with him.

There were a few things he would have to buy up in Connecticut, but he felt like he had pretty close to everything he would need while he was at school.

Zexion and his father took their checked baggage off to the scale before they went through security. It was early in the morning, and although there were people around in the airport, it was not as busy as it had been some of the times Zexion had gone with his dad to pick his mom up. Getting through security did not take nearly as long as he expected it to, and when they arrived at their departure gate, they had almost an hour to kill.

After shooting Demyx a text to make sure he got back home safely, Zexion pulled out a book and read for a while.

Finally, it was time to board the plane. They lined up with their boarding passes and filed on, picking seats near the wings of the plane. Zexion chose a window seat; his dad liked sitting in the middle because it gave him more room to spread out.

The flight had one stop on the way, but they did not have to switch planes. It ended up being roughly a four-hour flight, including the change in time zones that happened when they were in the air. Zexion's dad slept through the entire flight, but Zexion faded in and out of sleep. Objectively, he knew he should have been tired, but his body did not seem to want to relax.

They landed and got off the plane, taking their carry-ons with them. They were almost down to the luggage pick-up when Zexion's father received a text.

"Your mother's has her car outside. She says that we should let her know when we have your luggage so that she can pull up to meet us."

"Why doesn't she just come in and help?" Zexion asked, frowning slightly.

"You know your mother."

Zexion nodded. Really, that was all that needed to be said.

While they were waiting, Zexion stepped aside to call Demyx and let him know he was safe and sound. Ultimately, it took twenty minutes before they had all four pieces of luggage and headed outside. When they walked out of the airport and onto the sidewalk, they were met by a small, blue car.

The window rolled down. "We can't stay here long, so you boys should hurry up and get your stuff in the back," Zexion's mother said from the driver's seat. "I just popped the trunk."

Zexion and his father shared a brief look before loading up the trunk. Their carry-ons did not fit, so while Zexion's father climbed in next to his wife, the carry-ons joined Zexion in the backseat of the car.

"How was the flight?" Zexion's mother asked, leaning in and kissing Zexion's father on the cheek before she put the car back in gear.

"Long."

"Awe," she cooed jokingly. "You've already had a long day, haven't you? I know you aren't crazy about that flying stuff. You never have been."

"He did okay," Zexion said, in his father's defense. "He was asleep the entire time."

She raised an eyebrow. "Wow. Did you drug him?"

"No, mother."

"Damn. It works like a charm, when you're in a bind."

Zexion did not even know what to say to that.

"You promised we would not discuss this," Zexion's father said, trying to sound stern, but coming off as just a little bit whiny when his voice cracked.

Zexion loved when his parents were actually in the same place.

"Zexion's family, hun," she said, grinning. "He should know these things. We both know I'm not always around to keep you in line."

"I do not need to be kept in line through drugging."

"Hey, if it works..." Immediately after she turned off the main road, she swiveled around to Zexion and winked. "Let's keep that with just the three of us, though. It'd be bad for my reputation if people knew all the things I get up to with my own husband."

"Watch the road, Mom," Zexion said immediately, sounding entirely too calm. "You are in the wrong lane."

She turned around and swerved back into her own lane. "Right you are."

"Besides," Zexion's father added, as if it would help maintain his dignity. "You already have a reputation for pushing the limits. I hardly expect it would surprise anyone."

She snorted. "Well, aren't you sweet."

"I love you, too."

Zexion's mother beamed, her entire face lighting up like a ray of sunshine. Zexion often wondered how someone like her and someone like his father ended up together. Zexion's father was older, more reserved, and more concerned with propriety. When Zexion's mother smiled, though, a goofy grin always worked its way onto Zexion's father's face.

Sometimes, Zexion wondered if his father always seemed so unhappy because his wife was usually far away.

"Earth to Zexion," his mother chimed in. "Which dorm are you in?"

Zexion told her, and she nodded. "We're about two minutes away. Where do you get your keys and all?"

"We sign in at the front desk of the dorm."

"Perfect," she said. "Nervous?"

"No," Zexion said. "I expected that I would be, but it is not nearly as bad as I thought. This is not anything I cannot handle."

"You've got it, sugar," his mom said proudly as she pulled up to the dorm building. "You're definitely my son."

"No," Zexion's father countered wryly. "I think he missed out on the crazy gene."

As soon as she put the car into park, she swatted at him. "There's enough of me in him that he's not all humdrum and dull like you are," she teased.

Zexion walked inside the building to get his key, leaving his parents bickering outside. He told the people at the front desk his name, and they handed him a key card and a small, metal key.

"Within the next few days, you have to go get your picture taken down at the student center," the girl at the desk told him. "Until then, the key card will get you into all the buildings on campus."

"Thank you," Zexion said politely, and he went outside to meet his parents, who had successfully unloaded the car.

"What's your room number?" his mother asked as they entered the building.

"325."

"Elevator it is."

When Zexion got to his room, the door was already unlocked. He walked in to find half the room already unpacked and set up. A boy that Zexion assumed was his roommate was at his desk on his computer.

"Hello," Zexion said, trying to seem as friendly as possible. He did not want his roommate to think he was boring right off the bat.

The boy turned in his chair to face him. "Hello."

"I'm Zexion," he said. "I'm your roommate." He paused for a second before adding, "These are my parents, but I'm sure you have already figured that out."

"I'm Isa, and I'd introduce you to my parents, but they are not here."

"And we aren't going to be either, in a minute or two," Zexion's mother said. "We're going to get out of your hair. We'll come to pick you up around dinner time, but if you need anything before then, just give us a call, okay, Zexion?"

"Okay," he agreed. "Bye."

They hugged him and left.

"Do you want any help unpacking?" Isa asked. "My mom went crazy with my stuff, so it doesn't seem fair for you to do it on your own."

Zexion smiled. "I would appreciate it, if you would not mind helping."

Isa stood up. "Tell me what to do."

"Uh..." Zexion looked around. "Give me a second and I'll work this out. I need just a little bit to orient myself and figure out how I want to do this."

"Alright."

Zexion looked around his dorm room. The beds were bunked, and Isa had given him top bunk, of course. He did have his own closet, though, which was nice. His desk was in the corner, and he had a small bookshelf by the door. He could easily start putting his clothes away and just have Isa help with stuff like school supplies. It would not be hard to put those in desk drawers.

"Okay," Zexion said, turning to Isa. "You see the dark blue suitcase over there?"

Isa's eyes shifted over to the suitcases. "Yes."

"If you could just empty out my school supplies onto my desk, that would be great."

"Can do."

"Thanks, Isa." Zexion smiled and set about unpacking his clothes.

"No problem."

It took surprisingly little time to get everything put away. Once everything was organized, Isa went back to his desk.

That was the point when things started to get a little bit uncomfortable. Zexion felt as if he should say something. He should get to know the boy who he would be sharing a room with all of his freshman year, right?

However, from the way Isa was turned with his back to Zexion, Zex somehow suspected that Isa wasn't as eager to start up conversation.

* * *

The afternoon passed in uncomfortable silence. Zexion went out to eat with his parents, and they invited Isa, but he politely declined.

Dinner was a dramatic affair, with Zexion's mom not only being incredibly picky about where they ate, but also about the quality of the food and the amount of privacy there was.

Zexion was relieved when they paid and left.

When they got back to the dorm, Zexion's parents gave him hugs (his mother) and advice (his father) and went on their way.

Isa still had little to say, and any attempts that Zexion made at conversation fizzled out and died.

Zexion Skyped Demyx, because it made him feel slightly less alone.

**[TBC]**


	4. Just a Note

**Hi, guys. **

**It's been a while, huh? **

**We're super sorry for not updating. School is kicking some ass this year and time is scarce. But we are trying, when we have time to get stuff written. Just bear with us, okay? It'll get done eventually.**

**This was just a heads up so you know what's going on and so you know we're not dead or injured or ill or anything like that. It's just school. **

**I have to ask that you not review this note, so that you will be able to review the chapter when it gets done. If you absolutely want to though, please submit it anonymously to prevent any future problems.**

**We love you guys and we're sorry for taking ages.**

**-Laci and Kat**

**P.S. This note is getting taken down in a few days, so don't worry about it continuously interrupting the flow of the story.**


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